Feeding mechanism for acetylene-gas generators.



PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903.

G. E. FRANQUIST. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AGETYLENE GAS GENERATORS.

APPLICATION FILED DEB. 12. 1901,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

30 MODEL.

THE NORRIS Pains cor. nurauma, WASNIHGTON. n. 4:

PATENTED DBO. 15, 1903.

. G. E. FRANQUIST. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AGETYLENE GAS GENERATORS? APPLICATION FILED DEC 12. 1901,

2 SHBETS-SEEET 2.

no Mann.-

WITNESSES A HORNE) THE nonfllswzvzns m mmommn, WASHmGTOm v.1;

UNITED STA-TEST Patented December 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVE E. FRANQUIST, OF'NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. B. COLT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF'NEW JERSEY. i

'- FEEDING. MECHANISM FOR ACETYL-ENE-GA'S GENERATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pate nt No. 746,812, dated December 15, 1903. Application filed December 12, 1901- Serial No. 85,69i; (No model.)

To all whom itmay concern: l I

Be it known that LGUSTAVE E. FRANQUIST,

a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in

the. city and State of New York, (post-office address No. 21 Barclay street, in said borough,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Eeeding Mechanism. for Acetylene-Gas Generators, of which the following is a description, accompanied by drawlugs. 1 i

The invention is particularly designed and adapted for use in the feedingof carbid in acetylene-generators;

In many carbid-feeding mechanisms, and particularly in the various forms of gravity feeds, a valve or stop is-used for preventing the feeding of carbid. It sometimes occurs that a particle of carbid will prevent the tight closing of thevalve or stop and allow leakage or feeding of the cal-bid To obviate this trouble, auxiliary valves or safety-stops have been resorted to.

It is the object of the present invention to produce a valve of simple construction which shall be free from all serious danger of such' interference or leakage of the oarbid.

In the preferred form of the invention a series of separate fingers or steps are used, so that the interference or holding up of one of these will not prevent the proper closingmovement of the others, and in conjunction with such fingers or steps a valve, preferably with a rubber edge, so as be substantially gas-tight and moistureproof, may be employed. Preferably, also, such valve will close after the series of fingers or steps and will operate at a point beneath the fingers or steps and will come into ope ration, therefore, when the valve-seat is practically free from carbid. Such valve therefore will only have to operate upon such small quantity of carbid as may pass the series of stops. This construction of feeding mechanism is especially well suited to the feeding of granular carbid.

'In the drawingaFigure 1 is a vertical central section of one form of the feeding mechanism as applied to the carbid-hopper of an which operates the feeding mechanism. Fig. 3 is a cross section of certain details of the feeding mechanism on the plane3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section of a modifi cation. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the same on the plane 5 5 of Fig. 4:.-

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, b is the car-bid holder or hopper, shown in this instance as having a tapering lower end, 0 a casting which contains the bearings for the rock-shaft f of the operating-lever g, and d is the carbid-charging cover held in place by a movableyoke h and hand-screw j. The valve mechanism is protected inside of the hopper from the carbid by the housing is k k". The inner valve or stop Z, preferably leading to the generatingchamber, has a'rubber flange or edge for making a tight moisture-proof contact with the valve seat, as seen in the figure, and is mounted upon and operated by a rod m, connected by alink p to the inner arm 9 of the operating-lever. The details of the operating connection maybe varied at will, as they are not essentials of the invention. Means vated by the valve in its upward movement and to lower with said valve in its downward 'movemeut for a portion of said downward movement, said means being adapted to engage the tapering sides of the chamber before the valve engages its seat and to cut ed the supply of car-bid above the valve. As shown, in this instance the rod m may be guided in the two heads T, which should also serve as guides for the series of fingers or stops ,9. Attached to the rod m is a pick -up head t.

Each of the stops 5 is provided with an en-- gaging member a, which is engaged and lifted by the head t and forms the means by which the respective stop .9 is raised. I have shown the members 21. as being placed at difierent heights on the diderent stops, so that as the are provided carried 'by the valve to be elehead i rises some of the stops will be raised 1 ing of the carbid than if all were raised at.

once. From the operation the proportioning of the parts under difierent conditions will be clear to those skilled in the art.

This is advanta-- The operation of the device is as follows: When the rodm is raised to feed, it first raises the valve or stop I without raising any of the stops 8. As the stops .9 remain seated on the surface of the hopper, the raising of the valve Z will not in itself allow any carbid to be fed unless some has leaked through the fingers or stops 3 and settled above the valve Z. If the rod m is now raised farther, the headt engages and raises one or more of the members u, and with them the corresponding stops or fingers s, permitting the carbid to fall down the inclined surface of the hopper and through the feed-opening of the hopper beneath the valve 1. When the feeding is to cease, the rod m is lowered, allowing all the stops 8 to descend until they come to rest against the hopper. When these conditions are reached, the interval within the series of stops 7 bid that passes the stops 8.

s will become free from carbid unless some cal-bid leaks through between the fingers or stops 8. When, therefore, the further descent of the rod 'm closes the valve Z, either this valve will have no carbid to interfere with its seating itself or, it will only have to contendwith such fine carbid in such a small quantity as may continue to leak through the stops .9. The valve Z may be employed for both its functions of excluding moisture from the carbid and of stopping the fine car- It may under proper conditions be constructed and employed to serve only one'of these two functions. For example, when coarse granular carbid is used with very little carbid-dust the stops 3 may be sufficient to entirely prevent the feeding of the carbid.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5 fiat plates 8' are shown in the place of round fingers or stops 3 and the engaging members to take the form of studs or lugs on the stops 3, which are engaged by the cylindrical weight 1 on the central rod m. These are the principal difierences in the form of the device shown in Figs. 4 and 5 from that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

It will thus be seen that according to my invention there is provided a generating or slaking chamber, a portion only of which is indicated in the drawings, and a carbid-holder having an exit-opening in communication therewith, and there are a plurality of independently-movable valves, one placed in the rear of and surrounding the other, both of said valves being adapted to coact with the wall of the said exit-opening for closing it, while means are provided, constructed, and arranged to close. the rear valve in advance of the foremost valve.

I do not limit the use of the term movable stops to the separate fingers s, as I also term the valve Z a stop.

I claim and desire to secure the following characteristic features:

1.*In combination with a feed mechanism, a carbid-holder having an exit-opening for the material to be fed, a plurality of movable stops for controlling said passage-way, one of said stops surrounding the other and means for actuating said stops to control the feeding, whereby one of them is operated in advance of another for substantially the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with a feed mechanism, a carbid-holder having an exit-opening for the material to be fed, a plurality of movable stops for controlling said passage-way, one of said stops surrounding the other and means for actuating said stops to control the feeding while leaving them free to act independently within limits for substantially the purposes set forth.

3. In combination in a feed mechanism, a

passage-way for the material to be fed, a plurality of movable stops for controlling the feeding of material through said passage-way and another stop or valve for the said passage-way, and means for operating all the said stops and closing the last said stop or valve the latest, for substantially the purposes set forth. v

4. In combination with a feed mechanism, a passage-way for the material to be fed, a plurality of movable stops for controlling said passage-way, means for operating the stops, and a housing independent of the stops in which they are guided for substantially the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of the feed-hopperhaving an inclined bottom and a feed-opening, a valve or stop for substantially closing said opening, a series of movable stops which rest when closed upon the said inclined bottom at a point above the first said valve or stop, and means for operating the said valve or stop and the said movable stops, for substantially the purposes set forth.

6. The combination of the feed-hopper having an inclined bottom and a feed-opening, a valve or stop for substantially closing said opening, a series of movable stops which rest when closed upon the said inclined bottom at a point above the first said valve or stop, means for operating the said valve or stop, and lost-motion connections for raising the movable stops later than the first said valve or stop, for substantially the purposes set forth.

7. In a generator, the combination of a duplex feeding-valve for controlling the generation of gases, consisting of at least two relatively movable members and means for actuating them to open and close the valve, whereby one of the members closes'first and opens last, for substantially the purposes set forth.

8. In a generator, the combination of a duplex feeding-valve for controlling the generation of gases, consistingof at least'two relatively movable members and means for actuating them to open and close the valve, whereby one of the members closes first and opens last, and a housing for guiding and protecting both of said members from the loose material for substantially the purposes set forth.

9. In an acetylene-gas generator, the com-.

bination with a generating-chamber, of a carbid-holder communicating therewith and provided with a tapering lower end, a valveseat, a valve adapted to engage said seat,

means carried by the valve to be elevated by.

said valve in the upward movement of the valve and to lower with said valve in its downward movement for a portion of said downward movement, said means adapted to engage tapering sides of the chamber before the valve engages its seat and to cut off the supply of carbid above the valve, substantially as set forth. v

, 10-. In an acetylene-gas apparatus comprising a slaking-chamber, a carbid-holder having an exit-opening in communication therewith, a plurality of independently-movable valves, one 'placed in rear of and surrounding the other, both said valves adapted to coact with the wall of said opening for closing it, and means constructed. and arranged to close the rear valve in advance of the foremost valve, substantially as described.

11. In combination with a feed mechanism, a passage-way for the material to be fed,

a plurality of movable stops for controlling said passage-way, means for operating the stops, and a housing in which they are guided, the stops 7 being movable relatively to the housing, for substantially the purposes set forth.

Signed thisth day of December, 1901, at New York.

GUSTAVE E. FRANQUIST.

Witnesses:

R. E. BoLnE W. H. TURNER. 

